On 6 August 1999, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan completed 33 years as Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that together comprise the Federation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), of which he has also been President since its creation in December 1971. Having first served in government in 1946 as Ruler's Representative in Abu Dhabi's Eastern Region based in the inland oasis of Al Ain, Sheikh Zayed has now provided leadership to the country for well over half a century.

Born around 1918 (the date is uncertain), Sheikh Zayed is the youngest of the four sons of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1922 to 1926. He was named after his grandfather, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa, who ruled the emirate from 1855 to 1909, the longest reign in the three centuries since the Al Nahyan family emerged as leaders of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi, like the other emirates of the southern Arabian Gulf known as the Trucial States, was then in treaty relations with Britain. At the time Sheikh Zayed was born the emirate was poor and undeveloped, with an economy based primarily on fishing and pearl diving along the coast and offshore and on simple agriculture in scattered oases inland.

Life, even for a young member of the ruling family, was simple. Education was primarily confined to the provision of instruction in the principles of Islam from the local preacher, while modern facilities such as roads, communications and health care were conspicuous only by their absence. Transport was by camel or by boat, and the harshness of the arid climate meant that survival itself was often a major concern.

In early 1928, following the death of Sheikh Sultan's successor, a family conclave selected as Ruler Sheikh Shakhbut, Sultan's eldest son, a post he was to hold until August 1966 when he stepped down in favour of his brother Zayed.

During the late 1920s and 1930s, as Sheikh Zayed grew to manhood he displayed an early thirst for knowledge that took him out into the desert with the bedu tribesmen to learn all he could about the way of life of the people and the environment in which they lived. He recalls with pleasure his experience of desert life and his initiation into the sport of falconry, which has been a lifelong passion.
In his book, Falconry: Our Arab Heritage, published in 1977, Sheikh Zayed noted that the companionship of a hunting party:

...permits each and every member of the expedition to speak freely and express his ideas and viewpoints without inhibition and restraint, and allows the one responsible to acquaint himself with the wishes of his people, to know their problems and perceive their views accurately, and thus to be in a position to help and improve their situation.

From his desert journeys, Sheikh Zayed learned to understand the relationship between man and his environment and in particular, the need to ensure that sustainable use was made of natural resources. Once an avid shot, he abandoned the gun for falconry at the age of 25, aware that hunting with a gun could lead rapidly to extinction of the native wildlife.

His travels in the remoter areas of Abu Dhabi provided Sheikh Zayed with a deep understanding both of the country and of its people. In the early 1930s, when the first oil company teams arrived to carry out preliminary surface geological surveys, he was assigned by his brother the task of guiding them around the desert. At the same time he obtained his first exposure to the industry that was later to have such a great effect upon the country.

In 1946, Sheikh Zayed was chosen to fill a vacancy as the Ruler's Representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, centred on the oasis of Al Ain, approximately 160 kilometres east of the island of Abu Dhabi itself. Inhabited continuously for at least 5,000 years, the oasis had nine villages, six of which belonged to Abu Dhabi, and three, including Buraimi, by which name the oasis was also known, belonged to the Sultanate of Oman. The job included the task of not only administering the six villages, but the whole of the adjacent desert region, providing Sheikh Zayed with an opportunity to learn the techniques of government. In the late 1940s and early 1950s when Saudi Arabia put forward territorial claims to Buraimi he also gained experience of politics on a broader scale.

Sheikh Zayed brought to his new task a firm belief in the values of consultation and consensus, in contrast to confrontation. Foreign visitors, such as the British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who first met him at this time, noted with approbation that his judgements 'were distinguished by their astute insights, wisdom and fairness'.

Sheikh Zayed swiftly established himself not only as someone who had a clear vision of what he wished to achieve for the people of Al Ain, but also as someone who led by example.

A key task in the early years in Al Ain was that of stimulating the local economy, which was largely based on agriculture. To do this, he ensured that the subterranean water channels, or falajes (aflaj), were dredged and personally financed the construction of a new one, taking part in the strenuous labour that was involved.

He also ordered a revision of local water ownership rights to ensure a more equitable distribution, surrendering the rights of his own family as an example to others. The consequent expansion of the area under cultivation in turn generated more income for the residents of Al Ain, helping to re-establish the oasis as a predominant economic centre throughout a wide area.

With development gradually beginning to get under way, Sheikh Zayed commenced the laying out of a visionary city plan, and, in a foretaste of the massive afforestation programme of today, he also ordered the planting of ornamental trees that now, grown to maturity, have made Al Ain one of the greenest cities in Arabia.

In 1953 Sheikh Zayed made his first visit abroad, accompanying his brother Shakhbut to Britain and France. He recalled later how impressed he had been by the schools and hospitals he visited, becoming determined that his own people should have the benefit of similar facilities:

There were a lot of dreams I was dreaming about our land catching up with the modern world, but I was not able to do anything because I did not have